Mural: Political Debate ~ 1858 by bmac62
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
...a second street mural in Ottawa, Illinois shown here as a follow-on to 'Trompe l'oeil' uploaded Sunday.
...found this large mural just across the street from Washington Square in Ottawa, Illinois where the first of seven debates were held between Abraham Lincoln and Stephan A. Douglas for a US Senate seat in 1858. Slavery was a key issue in the late 1850s in the USA. Douglas took a very soft stand on the future of slavery. Lincoln stated that the US could not survive as half-slave and half-free states.
...Lincoln lost to Douglas in 1858 but defeated him for the Presidency in 1860. The Civil War (1861-1865) followed.
Bill
"Mandy's Face"

Comments (36)
Oh wow so........sorry for the stupid Australian question in advance.........but is that Lincoln in front WITHOUT the his trademark beard?
Great cpture! I see Lincoln has no beard yet.I read somewhere that he grew a beard after this election because a girl wrote a letter advising him to. Also I noticed that the flag has 36 stars. Is that correct for 1858?
I love the subtleties. Lincoln has a clear, open expression, and Douglas looks sort of shifty eyed. That hand reaching up sends a message of adoration for Lincoln, too. And I wonder who those two men on the right are ... they're clearly portraits, not just random faces. The reflection in the water pitcher has me scratching my head, too. Hmmmmm. So much to see in this. Great post!
love this images!!
Great mural and shot Bill plenty going on in this one.. Wonderful!!
To respond to blinkings' and netot's comments above, the mural above shows Lincoln as he was on August 21st, 1858. He grew his trademark beard after he was elected to the Presidency in November 1860 and before his inaguration on March 4th, 1861. As to the number of stars in the US flag in August 1858, there were 32 at the time depicted in the mural. Found this great timeline for when stars were added to the US flag beginning with 13 in 1776 and culminating with 50 in 1960. Click Here
And the debate rages on, especially today I hear, LOL!
This is a superb mural which you have captured brilliantly Bill and great info too.
I would agree with jayfar-But very often the info is better than the image-Not here though as both compliment each other-Great capture.
super artwork
WOW! The artist here is a master. SO many details. Tara has essentially stolen my comments on this one (good going, Tara!). I wonder how large that mural is? From the bricks it seems to be at least 2 stories. I also wonder how long it took to paint. The two men on the right may be the artist and the person commissioning the mural. That's an old way of honoring such people (Michelangelo did it, but he also painted one irritating cardinal in hell in the huge mural in the Sixtine Chapel!). As for the photo work, I see the mural is so large it was difficult to get all into one shot. Good lighting (sunny day?) but no hot spots on the mural. The camera angle puts the viewer in the audience, giving a "you are there" feeling. And, what's hidden behind the black square with your name, since the square is so large? I really like this photo. A small corner of the US, a small bit of history which led to some very big things. Keep up the good work! :-)
Marvellous! What a super piece of work, and so much in there!
Wonderful & lots to see!!
Excellent mural and capture. :)
This is interesting and wonderful piece of art.
Wow! another VERY impressive mural! Very professional! LIKE! lol More? Rob
Nice picture and a little history.
Wonderful art work and capture Bill. God Bless.
Fantastic art and great capture
What can I say that hasn't been said? Great capture of this excellent painting!
Again more superb artwork, so much better than the trash on the side of subway trains and buildings today, another keeper Bill
Great capture Bill!!! Thanks for the very interesting link.
Excellent pic.
Wonderful capture of this mural! :) It may be just me, but I think Lincoln is also in the background scene. Look at the guy with the top hat next to the larger Lincoln stomach. ;)
Really fine capture of the dynamic mural in this shot, Bill. Newt Gingrich has proposed a similar debate with Barak Obama if he is nominated for president.
Exam question : Sum up Abraham Lincoln in one line.... Answer : Lincoln lost to Douglas in 1858, but defeated him for the Presidency in 1860, the Civil War followed... by that account, Douglas sounds like a sore loser :-) I think we just re-wrote American history.... All the relavent and obvious comments have been made already, brilliant, sharp capture, great detail in the zoom. (How old are these murals, are they regularly 'touched up' or do they have some protective coating ??)
yes this is history here. very good image of this painting
Politicians debating - the more things change..... :-D A really great find, Bill! Excellent shot of this coloful mural!
I've never seen any images of Lincoln without his trademark beard before so not only is this a fascinating piece of history but it's also been a lesson to me. I have to agree that Douglas does look untrustworthy. Thanks for posting Bill.
fantastic capture